see also

The war of words between Donald Trump and the grieving parents of a slain Muslim-American soldier continued Monday, as a group of Gold Star families demanded an apology for “repugnant” comments made by the GOP presidential nominee.

Trump swiftly took to Twitter: “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same – Nice!” Trump tweeted Monday morning, echoing a tweet from the day before.

“This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!”

I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!

Trump has refused to stand down against Khan’s tough assessment. He accused the Khan family of keeping the soldier’s mom, Ghazala Khan, quiet as part of an anti-woman dictate of Islam.

The grieving mom, who stood silently next to her husband as he spoke to Democrats last week, has said she can barely discuss her son’s death in Iraq in 2004. In interviews since Thursday, Ghazala Khan said she tries to avoid rooms where her son’s picture hangs for fear of breaking down in tears.

“I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statements. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers or candidates,” according to McCain, whose own imprisonment during the Vietnam War was once mocked by Trump, who said of it, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

“While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.”

Other GOP senators — Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — also distanced themselves from Trump.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars also weighed in.

“To Mr. Trump, I would simply say: Hands off Gold Star families,” said Kirk, who withdrew his endorsement of the GOP nominee in June.

Gold Star families agreed.

“Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant,” read a statement from the group VoteVets.org, made up of the families of slain service members.
President Obama piled on.

Also Monday, family members of 11 slain service members wrote to Trump insisting on an apology.

“Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us,” according to an open letter Monday from the left-leaning veterans advocacy group VoteVets.org.

“When you question a mother’s pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice.”